Page 97 of Free Fall
Dan
Waking up ina soft bed in a big room, with the scent of coffee and the sound of bouncy KPop drifting in from a full kitchen is new. I wallow in the warm covers, listening to the sounds of breakfast being made, and smile up at the ceiling.
I can imagine Sejin in there, moving around Peggy Jo’s kitchen, hair up in a messy bun, and his cute little ass wiggling to the music. He’ll probably occasionally break out into the choreo for whatever song is playing. Something by Astro probably.
I could get used to this, I decide. And that thought is underscored in gold when I suddenly smell bacon frying.
“Merowrrrr.” I hear it a mere half-beat before a small, furry demon pounces onto the bed and hisses in my face, showing me his terrifying fangs, and then darts off out of the room through the slightly open door.
“Devil,” I mutter, rubbing a hand over my sleep-crusted eyes and trying to still my now wildly beating heart.
“You’re up,” Sejin says cheerfully when I come out to join him in the kitchen, after I’ve taken a leak, shaved, and brushed away the morning breath. He gives me a long up-down, and I feel my cock stir. How does he do that? Make me want him with just a sly grin and a coy look? “You look sexy.”
I look down at myself. The night before I’d been reluctant to go out to the van and rummage for a clean t-shirt and boxers to sleep in, so Sejin had pulled out some things from his own luggage for me to wear. They aren’t anything more than a pair of soft athletic shorts and a t-shirt, but they smell like him and that’s nice.
“Mmph,” I say. I’m not really a morning person like he is. I don’t take forever to get out of bed or drag ass, but I do sort of hate to be cheerful in the morning. That’s more of an afternoon mentality. Or maybe nighttime.
After considering my taciturn personality…
Maybe never.
“Sit,” he says, pointing to the table where I’ve shared many a meal with Peggy Jo. I pull out a chair and a cat scampers off all offended like I moved it just to irritate him.
Sejin bends down to stroke the angry cat and whisper something to him. I narrow my eyes, looking for any sign that the little horror might bite Sejin. These cats have been known to pretend to want my attention, only to strike when I actually do reach out to pet them. But Romeo—Julio? Muggs?—simply rubsagainst Sejin’s fingers and then twines around his ankles like it’s his job to trip Sejin.
So that’s his diabolical plan.
“You’re really suspicious of these cats, huh?” Sejin says, as he turns back to the bacon, eggs, and toast he’s assembling on plates for us.
“They’re suspicious of me too,” I point out.
Sejin snorts but doesn’t say more. Though I do notice he drops some eggs to the floor and the two cats that have come to watch him cook dive for the bits. Aha, he bribes them, huh? I could try that, but it seems beneath my dignity. Plus…cats.
We’ve just started eating when Sejin’s phone pings. I figure it’s another VLive alert for one of his KPop bands, and we’ll eat breakfast watching people speak Korean, and we’ll enjoy it though we have no idea what’s going on. But, instead, Sejin seems surprised by what’s on the screen, and then he starts to type quickly with his thumbs.
A ping, ping, ping of back-and-forth texting begins. I eat my breakfast and leave him to it.
“My dad,” Sejin says after a few minutes, finally putting his phone aside. “He’s curious what the plans are for Thanksgiving this year. I’d promised to spend it with him, and he’s…” Sejin blinks and shakes his head. “He’s offered to fly out here instead of me flying home to him.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. I usually like the holidays back home, but I haven’t been back to West Virginia since I left…”
There’s a lot of weight behind those words, and I know there’s a lot Sejin isn’t saying about that. I sip my coffee and ask, “Do you want to go home for Thanksgiving?”
“I don’t know.” He picks at his food. “I hate the thought of walking back into that house knowing she’ll never be there.”
“So long as you don’t go home then she can still be there in your mind?”
“No,” he says quietly. “I know she’s gone. I saw her body. I can’t call her on the phone when I need her. I don’t have my mom in my life. It’s just…I don’t want to look back like that. I don’t think she’d want me to. She knew me. She knew I wanted to travel and move away, and live the kind of life where I’m not in one place forever. Going back isn’t moving forward, you know? Not for me.”
“Mm.” I don’t have anything to say to that. I’m not the person to talk to about family stuff. Surprise trust fund money from biological grandfathers doesn’t count as having family.
“But I feel guilty too. Like, am I wrong to abandon Dad there with all the memories? Does that make me a bad kid?”
“Your dad’s a grown man. If he wants to leave West Virginia, he can. In fact, from what you just said, he’s suggesting he do just that.”
Sejin’s eyes widen and I point at him with my fork. “For Thanksgiving this year.”